Prophecy
by Chaos-Rose
Summary: Written in response to a challenge on the Fan Fiction board at TheForce.net. This is a VERY dark AU with a character death.


This story and another I posted before this were written in response to a challenge on the boards at TheForce.net.

The parameters of the challenge were:

1) The story must be one post long. No series.

2) The subject of the story must be a 'good' or well-liked character portrayed in an unfavorable way or an 'evil' or disliked character portrayed favorably.

The challenge spawned some stunningly good, innovative stories - even an evil Artoo! I encourage you to check out the thread at http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=77011412

This one is VERY AU and (as usual for me) very dark. There is a character death, as well.

~ 

Prophecy 

~ 

She felt it. 

The aggression, the anger and hatred; then the fear, the despair and the endless, endless burning. Then there was only emptiness where love, light and life had once lived. 

Anakin, had been her lover and her husband, and now the other half of her soul was no more. 

Padmè could not howl and scream out her grief, she simply went to her knees on the stone and rocked. Stealth and secrecy, utter quiet had become the order of the day since she had become a fugitive. Even as her heart felt that it was blowing itself to shreds, not a sound passed her lips. Even in the deepest part of her mind, no wail of mourning and loss disturbed the quiet. 

A rustle sounded behind her and she dashed the tears from her eyes, a hand straying automatically to the blaster that had become as much a part of her as her arm. 

Two pairs of eyes in plump baby faces regarded her from the makeshift crib against the wall. Leia's spice-brown eyes were full of tears and Luke's lower lip quivered seconds from letting out a full-fledged wail. Even her babies knew. 

Now it was time to run once more. Since the day she had conceived, she had seen more of the galaxy than she had ever wanted to. Anakin had been the one who had wanted to see it all and now… 

The quiet of the hovel was broken by the brutal slap of flesh on flesh. Braids flying, Padmè reeled from the full-armed slap that she had given herself. 

"Two lives. I have two lives to guard." Rubbing the reddened cheek, she began tossing their meager belongings into the worn packs. "If Ani led them on a wild duck hunt, he's bought us some time…" 

At the mention of his name, an odd feeling brought her up short. 

::: Ani? ::: 

Nothing. However, she had the impression that her call had gone down some depthless well even as she stood awaiting an echo. For a moment, she thought she felt something… 

Perhaps she should consider the possibility that she was insane with grief. Ani was one with the Force, now. 

Tossing the full packs to the floor, she picked up the twin's carrier. It would be a long haul to the spaceport, but this far out in the Rim hire-crew was always at a premium. Padmè always found a spot at a nav console or in a co-pilot's chair, even if she did have two kids. 

Lights in the night sky made it as bright as full day. The sound of hydraulics and the whine of repulsors filled her mouth with the taste of ashes. Even as she lunged for her armor, she knew that it was too late. 

They had found her. 

The door blew inward on a surge of the Force, slamming her into the wall. The door was filled with four figures, faces lost in the glare from the bright blades of their lightsabers. 

Rolling to her knees she drew both blasters and shifted the controls to rapid fire. Long ago, she had faith in the Force, now she trusted in military-grade ordnance. 

The barrage caught the four by surprise, one fatally. The other three carefully deflected the blots into the floor. 

"Padmè Skywalker!" Bail Organa's voice boomed into the night. "Anakin is dead, surrender the children and we will be merciful to you!" 

Anakin dead at Obi-Wan's hands, gone to see if he could reconcile with the man he had loved as a father, only to find betrayal and a painful death. 

"You will have my babes over my dead body!" To have Organa speak to her was doubly bitter. The man was as two-faced as a Janrissi. It was he who had betrayed her to the Jedi, telling them of her pregnancy and her marriage to Anakin when she refused his advances. The man had been married to her best friend for the love of the little gods! 

Luke and Leia were huddled in a corner of their crib, wide-eyed and soundless, to terrified even to cry. Another barrage of scarlet death left the muzzles of her blasters, only to be deflected by the blades. 

A pair of bolts returned to her, impacting her chest, throwing her back to stare breathless at the smoke-darkened ceiling. A strange feeling took hold of her, as if she were a child's balloon bobbing in the wind even as her body felt too heavy to move. Deepa Bilaaba and Ki-Adi-Mundi moved across the room, stepping over her with mocking grins. 

Master Windu pushed the hood from his head and grinned down at Padmè. "If the Chosen One will not serve of his own will, we can make a Chosen One our own." 

"The boy we shall take, promised the girl to Chancellor Organa we did." Yoda peered down at Padmè as she tried to muster the strength to spit. Her babies were wailing now, struggling and reaching down to touch her as the Jedi stepped over her and took them into the night. 

"A prophecy you spoke, Padmè Amidala. Here is the fulfillment of it." 

A green blade flashed. 

~ 


End file.
